Federico Marchesi is the Head of the Supply Chain for Haier Europe. He brings 10 years of experience across various supply chain functions in multiple industries, including consumer electronics, automotive, and retail.
He has an engineering background with a big passion for solving complex challenges.
Listen to the full discussion here:
Connect with the Guest:
Federico Marchesi: LinkedIn
Some of the highlights from the podcast:
- Adapting New Normal: consumer behavior changes, supply chain disruptions, increased sustainability pressure
- Building Resilience: diverse suppliers, advanced technology, new skills
- Directing Sustainability: Prioritizing eco-friendly practices
- Focusing on People: adaptability, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, tech-savvy
Show notes:
- [0:54] What are your current responsibility at Haier? How did you make a fast career track to be where you are today?
- [1:05] I’m the European Head of Supply Chain planning and Excellence for Higher Europe. I got outstanding leaders who helped me improve as a person, as a manager, and as a leader that transmitted this passion for the work that they do. And somehow that went through my career.
- [4:50] How has the pandemic affected the supply chain in your business? And what are some of the key challenges your business has faced as a result?
- [9:37] The effect of disruption might be difficult to predict and might force us to be on more resilient. On the other side, we need to be more involved in making decisions and react to what’s happening because it’s very difficult to plan everything in advance.
- [10:12] How has your business adapted to the new normal after the pandemic? What key strategy and technology do you use?
- [11:46] We are investing heavily in enforcing or enlarging the planning team to be able to better control and plan, we’re investing heavily in new processes and systems to manage the supply chain.
- [14:02] What are some of the key changes and developments you have observed after the pandemic, that is shaping the future of supply chain? And how do you position your business to take advantage of this trend?
- [14:18] I would say one of the biggest trends I’ve seen during the pandemic, even nowadays is the different approach to inventory.
- [16:43] What steps have your company taken to ensure the resilience and flexibility of your supply chain in this uncertain changing environment?
- [18:25] We had to keep this balance from going, we could not stop completely our supply, and we have to be careful about how we balance inventory.
- [19:29] What is the new demand your company is facing now? How do you handle it?
- [20:49] What I learned is, I will never be able to forecast what we will need to sell to a specific consumer tomorrow. So I’m working today with kind of a hybrid concept of demand planning based on forecasting in the long term.
- [22:20] What is your motivation and how are companies dealing with the increasing pressure of sustainability and ethical sourcing in this new normal?
- [24:09] The more I learned that this goes really end-to-end with cost optimization and time optimization. So probably, a company becoming more sustainable is an outcome of strong and good business practices.
- [25:27] What are the challenges your organization is facing when it comes to hiring- on a people topic? And what are the key qualities and skills you are looking for?
- [27:21] We’re not any longer looking for a professional with a couple of years of experience, but we’re really trying to go back to strengthening our relationship with Universities.
Quotes from the Episode:
Soundbite from the Episode:
Related Episodes:
#132: Building and Empowering a Resilient Team
#133: The Making of “From Source to Sold”
#134: Digital Procurement Transformation starts with mindset
